


Lose Yourself At Sea

by maximumdanger



Series: The World We Build (She Ra) [4]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Adora-centric (She-Ra), Anxious Adora (She-Ra), Day At The Beach, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, Mystacor (She-Ra), Post-Canon, Spa Treatments, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maximumdanger/pseuds/maximumdanger
Summary: The Best Friends Squad goes on a trip to Mystacor for some rest and relaxation before Bow's surprise space mission. Adora has some much needed stress relief and lets off a bit of steam.(Rated T for emotional baggage.)
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: The World We Build (She Ra) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789738
Comments: 6
Kudos: 123





	Lose Yourself At Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hordak Goes To Mystacor](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25132759) by [lynxladybuglover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynxladybuglover/pseuds/lynxladybuglover). 



> Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a bit longer than usual since I've uploaded! This is somewhat different stylistically than my usual work, so it took longer to write and edit. I've also been working on my Magnus Archives fic which I hope to put out the first couple of chapters of soon! I plan to continue uploading some one-shots for She-Ra in between working on that, and maybe some Critical Role works as well.
> 
> Special thanks to my friend lynxladybuglover for working with me on this! We both put out Mystacor fics so please check hers out as well if you're interested in more fics with similar concepts. Thank you for reading!

"Really?" Catra groaned, "The  _ spa _ ? Our last full day on Etheria before Bow's 'big mission' and you're gonna make me spend it in  _ water _ ?" Catra flopped dramatically back on the bed in her and Adora's room in Bright Moon. "You're killing me, Adora. You're killing your girlfriend. I'm dying right now."

Adora rolled her eyes and smirked as she lay down beside Catra, propping herself up on her elbows so she could get a better look at her girlfriend's face. "First of all, Mystacor isn't just one big spa. Second of all, yes." Catra looked up at her, half-disgusted and half-pouting, which made Adora burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, Catra! It's not like the whole day is gonna be a giant bath. Besides, you get to spend the day with your awesome girlfriend and best friends. You are absolutely  _ not  _ allowed to back out of this."

Catra gave Adora her best puppy-dog eyes, but Adora stayed grinning and unmoved. "Ugh, fine," Catra finally groaned. Adora smiled brightly and flopped herself onto Catra, hugging her tightly.

"I knew you'd say yes," she said, planting a kiss on Catra's cheek.

Catra laughed heartily as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist, smiling up at her.

"Only because it's you, Adora."

\--

That night, two nights before they were due to leave Etheria, Adora couldn't sleep. Sleep very rarely came easily to her.

She lay in bed beside Catra, listening to her soft breathing and the rumbling purr of Melog on the floor across the room, and stared at the crystals floating above them on the ceiling.

It had been just over 2 years since they'd disabled the Heart, and so much had changed. The war was over, and the world was brighter, full of hope and the magic that had laid dormant in its core for a millenia.

However, Adora had had significant trouble adjusting to life as… well, as close to a civilian as She-Ra could be. There was always a tightness in her muscles, a constant fight-or-flight response wound up like a spring waiting to release.

She tried to keep herself busy.

Adora had initially insisted on going along on each mission that the Princess Alliance made to another planet, but began to burn out, and after Catra had a nervous breakdown over feelings of abandonment, she decided to stay on Etheria for a while, distracting herself from the constant tension by helping Scorpia rebuild the Fright Zone with the help of Catra and a few of their friends.

What really nagged at Adora, tore at the corners of her mind, was her Vision of the future. She watched Catra and Bow's hair grow out, watched the sprouting wings on Glimmer's back, watched the progress Scorpia made towards rebuilding her kingdom, and worried. She worried that she was moving too fast or too slow, that she wasn't doing enough, that she wouldn't get her perfect future just like Horde Prime had said. Her worry had brought her to tears more than once, but her friends and girlfriend always assured her that she was on the right path, and she did her best to believe them.

That was why this day and this mission meant so much to her, to them. Bow had planned it with the four of them, alongside Entrapta, in mind. They would be _The_ _Best Friend Squad, traversing outer space,_ just like they'd planned. It would be perfect.

Adora smiled to herself, took a deep breath, and screwed her eyes shut. She tried to relax her muscles, the way Perfuma had described to her, and slowed her breathing.

_ I'm doing this right _ , she assured herself.  _ I'm okay. _

She prayed that sleep would find her soon.

\--

It was about an hour before they were due to leave for Mystacor. Glimmer had woken everyone up early, much to Catra's dismay, so they could spend a full day experiencing everything Mystacor had to offer, "this time without the threat of the world ending or Shadow Weaver trying to kidnap Adora," she had said. That brought a bittersweet laugh from everyone.

Now, they all sat at the table making their way through the breakfast that Glimmer and Bow (mostly Bow) had cooked, Catra half asleep and staring into a plate of toast. Adora smirked at that before turning to Bow.

"So, uh, where's Entrapta? Isn't she supposed to be coming along for whatever big mission you have planned?" she asked.

Bow stared at her, caught with a mouth full of egg and a fork raising more to his mouth, before swallowing hard and coughing.

"Uh, yeah, sorry!" he squeaked out, still coughing a bit. "She said she was gonna sit Mystacor out. Something about her, uh, making sure her recent 'updates' to the ship were working. Anyways, she's checking that everything is up and running, supplies are in order, and… uh…" He sighed heavily. "... that Hordak is all set before we leave. Scorpia and Perfuma are offering to keep an eye on him while we're gone."

Adora felt a tinge of some anxious feeling in her chest at the mention of his name, and looked over to Catra, who was now staring sleepily at the tablecloth. Catra's gaze shot up to Adora, the sudden eye contact spooking her, and she gave a half-smirk.

"Oh, come on," Catra said, feigning annoyance, "Entrapta gets to stay home from the all-day bath, but  _ I  _ have to go?" She glanced over to Bow. "Not cool." Adora's tension left her body as she and her friends laughed together.

"I'll tell you what," Glimmer said, pointing her fork at Catra, "If you're not having any fun after an hour, you can go join Entrapta at the ship."

"Deal."

\--

Catra lay asleep on her stomach in a bamboo lounge chair, arm dangling off of the side with her hand in the cool, grey sand, letting out soft snores as midday sun illuminated her. Glimmer had placed a towel over her to protect her from burning before running to join Bow in the water, where they were now about waist deep, splashing and tackling each other, Glimmer occasionally teleporting out of Bow's reach just to mess with him. Their laughter rang out across the beach, echoing in Adora's ears as she lay on her towel watching them.

Glimmer leapt onto Bow's back, sending up a spray of water and clouds as she cackled. He shouted something incomprehensible as he attempted to latch onto her and throw him off of his back, but she held tight around his shoulders and waist. Adora raised a hand to her mouth, stifling a laugh. Eventually, Bow pried Glimmer's hands off of his shoulders, and she let go, falling backwards into the waves. Bow stood up triumphantly and looked up the beach towards Adora.

"Come in, Adora! The water's great!" he called to her, before Glimmer teleported above him to tackle him into the water, both disappearing below the surface in a splash. Adora looked over to Catra's sleeping form, and quickly got up, running towards the glittering clouds as wind whipped through her hair. Bow and Glimmer resurfaced as she was about thigh-deep, and she smiled and dove towards them, a shower of cool water and mist spraying the two as she slipped into the waves. She emerged to see them standing over her just before Glimmer pulled a length of seaweed from her arm and threw it towards Adora, grinning.

Adora flopped back in the waves when it hit her face, floating on her back as she exclaimed dramatically, "Oh, no! You've killed me, Glimmer! How could you do this to me, your best friend?! The betrayal…"

Glimmer sank to her knees beside her. "I'm evil, now," she whispered devilishly, but didn't have time to continue her villainy before Bow grabbed her around the waist, pinning her arms to her side as he lifted her into the air, and turned and threw his cackling girlfriend away from Adora into an incoming wave of sparkling clouds. Adora quickly pulled the seaweed from her face and launched herself onto Bow's back the way Glimmer had earlier, almost pushing him over. Before he could try to throw Adora off, they heard Catra's cackle from the shore. Adora clung tight to Bow as he turned to face Catra, who stood with her feet in the waves and arms crossed.

"Catra, come swim with us!" Adora called out to her girlfriend before Bow got the chance.

"No way, Adora! It's way more fun watching you idiots from over here," she replied playfully.

As Adora stuck her tongue out at Catra, Glimmer resurfaced next to them, grabbing Bow's legs and causing the two of them to go tumbling below the cloud cover with her.

\--

"So, what do you think?" Bow asked, sitting down on the tile floor of Castaspella's guest room and shaking the water from his hair with his fingers. "Hot spring or massages first?"

Adora looked up at him, a bit puzzled. "Since when does Mystacor have a massage parlor?"

"Uh, since always, Adora," Glimmer said cheerily as she threw a towel towards Adora, who caught it before it hit her in the chest. "You were just too busy trying not to get kidnapped last time we took a vacation here for us to bring you."

Adora laughed at that sentiment, despite how strange it would sound to anybody else. "Oh, guess I forgot. In any case, I have no idea. I don't really, uh, know how professional massages work? They put oil on you or something, right? Because if that's the case, I feel like you're not supposed to bathe afterwards." Bow nodded thoughtfully, as if he was carefully considering Adora's point.

Adora heard a creak as Catra lay back on the bed behind them, a privilege only she had since she was the only one who hadn't swum at the beach. "You're all already wet, so you might as well just go to the hot spring first," she said.

"You know that you're coming too, right?" Glimmer said, smirking at Catra.

Catra sighed and folded her arms over her face. "That was what I was afraid of." She suddenly smirked and looked over to her three friends on the tile floor across the room. "But since I'm the only one who's allowed on this side of the room, you technically can't make me go," she added triumphantly as her friends stared at her blankly.

Her satisfaction did not last long however, as Glimmer quickly teleported across the room to the bed, and teleported back to the tile with Catra's clawed hand held firmly in her grasp.

"Fineeeeeee, I'm coming."

\--

Adora eased herself into the warm water of the pool, resting her body in the indentation of the stone wall. Bow and Glimmer quickly joined her, lowering into the opposite side of the pool. The three of them looked up at Catra, smiling expectantly, who stood just outside the pool with a scowl and ears downturned.

"You all are just gonna keep staring at me until I get in, aren't you?" she finally asked.

"Yep!" Bow replied cheerfully, giving her a thumbs up.

Catra sighed and gripped the edge of the pool, taking in a deep breath before carefully hauling herself up and over the side. She stood, water coming to about her waist.

"Well, I'm in," she said. "What now?"

"Great! Now you just have to sit down."

Catra gave him a mock-saddened expression as she lowered herself down next to Adora, sinking to her shoulders and practically disappearing in the mist above the water.

"See, not so bad, right? It's just like a shower, except all at once and you're sitting in it instead of having it fall on you," Glimmer said, smirking.

"Don't patronize me, Sparkles," Catra grumbled from under the mist.

Adora heard Bow and Glimmer laugh as she closed her eyes. She placed an arm on the edge of the pool and tried to visualize her stress and cares floating away in the pool, forgotten. The muffled conversations of her friends melted in her ears as slowly, slowly, sleep took her.

\--

Adora woke with a start as a hand made contact with her shoulder, reflexively raising her hands in a defensive position. She looked up to see Glimmer's shocked expression, which quickly faded into a smile as Adora lowered her hands.

"Hey, Adora," Glimmer said gently. "You were really out the whole time we were in there, huh?"

Adora cleared her throat, and looked up to see she was the only one still in the pool. "Guess so."

Glimmer gave a short huff of a laugh. "Good, you must have been pretty relaxed then. We're gonna go get massages. Do you wanna come?"

Adora blinked a couple of times, still processing waking up. "Uh, yeah, sure, sounds good," she finally returned.

Glimmer offered her hand and Adora took it, rising out of the steam with a small splash of warm water to see the rest of the group standing behind Glimmer. Catra was wrapped up in a towel and aggressively rubbing the water from her fur, the tips of her shaggy hair dripping and her ears downturned. The static electricity made her fur stand on end. Adora snickered at the sight, and Catra stuck out her tongue as Bow tossed a robe in Adora's direction.

"Let's get going!" he said enthusiastically.

\--

Evening had taken Mystacor, and a long day of rest and relaxation set a calming mood over the dining room. The four of them sat in front of the feast Castaspella had set out for them, each couple next to one another on the opposite end of the table to her.

She whispered a few words to her guard, and the two of them shared a giggle. Adora watched Catra's ears perk up in curiosity, but the guard left quickly afterwards. Disappointment that she hadn't been able to eavesdrop on the conversation was clear on Catra's face as she slumped back in her chair. Adora let out a little chuckle of her own at that, causing her girlfriend to elbow her in the ribs jokingly.

Before they became too comfortable in the relative silence, Castaspella cleared her throat, and the four of them looked over to her. She sat, resting her chin on her intertwined hands, with an overjoyed expression on her face.

"I'm so happy my favorite niece and her friends came to visit!" she said with a deep fondness. "Goodness, you all look so grown-up! Especially you, Bow! I can see your little whiskers coming in! You look just like your father Lance." She smiled at him, pointing towards her own chin.

Bow blushed and averted his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, man, Casta, I-I don't know what to say…"

"But, Glimmer," Castaspella continued, "I don't see your friend Entrapta with you! I thought you said she would be coming today. You two are still friends, right?" The smile fell from her face, replaced with a look of gentle concern.

Glimmer now appeared a bit embarrassed as well, though for a different reason than Bow.

"Uh, actually," Bow said, "She wanted to stay behind and prepare our ship for us. You know, for that big space mission we're going on?" Glimmer's eyes widened and she quickly nudged him. He looked back at her, confused, as she tried to subtly gesture for him to not say anything else.

"Big space mission? Glimmer, why didn't you tell me about this?" Castaspella asked, sounding saddened in her classic, somewhat dramatic fashion.

Glimmer sighed. "I'm sorry, I just knew you'd worry about me and I didn't want to put you through all of that trouble of fussing over me and my friends, you know?"

"Fussing over you and your friends is never a trouble to me, Glimmer! You know how much I love you!"

"Um… I… uh, I love you too, Aunt Casta."

Glimmer looked up to Adora with a "help me" expression. Adora looked over to Catra, who currently had a mouthful of some fragrant grain that had been laid out for them, and gave her a "what am I supposed to do?" expression in response, shrugging.

"Uh…" Adora managed, "This mission is supposed to be something super exciting and secret that Bow has planned for us, so even if Glimmer had told you, she wouldn't have been able to give you any details! That probably would've made you worry more, right?"

Castaspella nodded very seriously, then smiled gently at the group. 

"Yes," she said, paused to reposition her arms, and then continued. "I'm very proud of you all, you know. You've accomplished more in your young lives than some people will in the entirety of theirs. You work so hard, and I'm so glad you're also remembering to take time to relax and care for yourselves. That Princess Perfuma must be quite the good influence on you all!"

Adora felt a tightness in her throat at Casta's words, like she was about to cry. She barely registered Glimmer's mumbled "thank you," or the other replies from her friends. She looked up to Castaspella and gave her a warm grin before returning her gaze to her plate.

Adora stayed silent for the rest of the meal, listening to Castaspella's offer to give Catra a tour of the grounds, which was politely declined, much to her thinly-veiled disappointment, and her questioning Bow as to whether or not he was wearing the sweater she'd sent him, despite the still-warm weather in Bright Moon. The tightness in her throat stayed until the meal ended, and when they all retreated to their room, saying their "good night"s and "thank you"s to Castaspella.

Almost immediately after entering their room, Adora slumped back against the wall, sliding down onto the tile floor, and burying her face into her folded arms as tears sprung from her eyes. Her friends quickly turned and surrounded her, joining her on the cool tiles.

"Adora, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" she heard Glimmer's voice say. She felt a pair of hands rest on her forearms, and looked up to see three sets of eyes staring at her with concern. She swallowed a sob, swiping her tears away.

"It's-it's nothing like that," she said, voice sodden with tears. "I'm just… it feels good to hear it sometimes. That somebody's proud of me."

"Adora," Catra spoke gently, "You know we're all proud of you, too, right?" Her hand came up to rest on Adora's cheek, and she leaned into the soothing touch, cradling Catra's hand in hers. "We love you so much."

"I… I think I know it. I just don't always feel like I'm doing things right."

"Adora, you don't always  _ have  _ to do everything right," Bow said. "We support you no matter what. Even so, know that you're doing  _ amazing  _ things. We could never do this all without you."

Adora gave him a weak smile and nodded, closing her eyes.

When the tears had stopped, Bow helped Adora stand, and she leaned into a warm hug as her friends held her. They stayed like that for a while, made her feel steady, and the tightness of her tears melted away.

"I love you guys," she whispered, muffled into Bow's shoulder.

"We love you too, Adora," Glimmer replied. "Don't ever forget that."

\--

They lay spread out on the big guest bed, Adora nestled into Catra's embrace, with her head rested on Bow's arm and Glimmer's hand crossing over his middle to grip hers loosely. The sound of Bow's snoring and the cool night air gently lulled her.

The day had been perfect. Every part of it. She would treasure these memories for the rest of her life, and they replayed in her brain as she focused on the warmth around her. She would make more tomorrow, and in the coming weeks and months. It was all real, and it was hers. It was  _ theirs. _

They were making their happy future  _ together _ .

She was  _ She-Ra _ , strong and brave and dependable, defender of Etheria. And she was Adora, who had fears, who doubted herself, who couldn't do it all on her own. Adora who needed her friends.

Adora who was loved.

She smiled in the gentle night, and knew a good night's rest would find her soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, please feel free to leave any feedback in the comments and let me know what you would like to see from me! Perhaps Bow's secret mission? Adora's future? Who knows? Certainly not me! :-)


End file.
